EXPLAINED: 15 years of degrees at UHI
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Next month will mark the return to study for thousands of students at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) as they embark on all kinds of courses.
From computing to history or even golf management, a skim through the university prospectus reveals an eclectic programme of courses up to PhD level while it recently emerged Professor Sir Jonathan Van-Tam – the face of public health briefings for the UK Government during the coronavirus pandemic – is a UHI student.
During the official opening of the £9.5 million Life Sciences Innovation Centre at Inverness Campus, he revealed he had enrolled on its distance learning post graduate MSc course in leadership and management.
Yet, it was just 15 years ago that the then UHI Millennium Institute, the prospective University of the Highlands and Islands, was granted taught degree awarding powers by the Privy Council.
It was a major milestone as it meant that from August 1, 2008, UHI degrees no longer had to be validated by the Open University as they had previously.
But it also paved the way for the UHI Millennium Institute – which had become a higher education institution just seven years previously – to apply for university status.
Its then principal, Professor Bob Cormack, said at the time that taught degree awarding powers would give UHI more flexibility in the development of new courses and enable it to respond more efficiently to student interests and employer demands.
"This is a huge achievement for UHI and means that we can now begin the next stage of our progress towards university title for which taught degree awarding powers is a pre-requisite step," he said at the time.
"We are working with the QAA (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education), the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Government and others to bring this about.
"While creating a university is quite correctly a rigorous process, our development is supported by the acknowledged needs of our region, the skills and commitment of our staff, and the support of three of Scotland’s leading universities – Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Strathclyde."
Fiona Hyslop, then Scotland's cabinet secretary for education and lifelong learning, also hailed it as a major milestone and said the establishment of a university would be a major accomplishment and a huge asset to the region.
The prospective university lost no time in setting out its stall with the launch of five new programmes in September 2008 designed to meet regional and national demands for professional skills development.
They were a BSc in sustainable construction, a BA in childhood practice, a BSc in oral health science, an MA in health and wellbeing and a BA adventure tourism management.
The granting of university status followed in 2011 and over the years, more course were added.
In September 2015, for example, it launched its BSc (Hons) Geography degree course which was also its first accelerated programme enabling students to gain an honours degree in just three years rather than the usual four years and delivered using a mix of face-to-face teaching and online materials.
In 2020, civil engineering students became the first in Scotland to complete a Graduate Apprenticeship (GA) at Honours Degree level after the UHI developed and piloted the course in partnership with Construction Industry Training Board.
All five apprentices were able to work in the industry, earning a wage while attending block release at Inverness College UHI.
In the past 15 years, there has also been controversy.
A lively debate ensued, for example, after Charles Bannerman queried the credibility of qualifications.
Others hit back, maintaining the UHI has plenty to offer aspiring students.
The debate about the growth and types of courses will no doubt continue but what cannot be disputed is the growth in student numbers.
In 2008, there were more than 6800 students studying at university-level with UHI through a network of colleges, research institutions and learning centres in the Highlands and Islands.
There are now currently more 36,000 students on a range of college and university courses at the various campuses and online.
